Andy Sullivan wins in Joburg.....again!

Post by Sports Writer Derek Clements

ONE minute you are plodding along picking up bits and pieces here and there on the Challenge Tour and anywhere else they will have you. Then you make it on to the European Tour and you stun yourself, your friends, your family and your rivals by winning a tournament.

Your life changes. Suddenly your sponsors are rather more accommodating. You even pick up the odd bonus or two. You realise that you are going to be on tour for all of that year and two more besides, without the worry of holding on to your card.

The pressure lifts from your shoulders and, all of a sudden, you find yourself there or thereabouts most weeks. And then, eight weeks after that first win, you bowl up to the Joburg Open. You feel good because that first win at the South African Open came in the same country.

You play steady golf for the first three rounds. Nothing spectacular, but good enough to get you to the edge of contention. Again! Then you go out in the final round and shoot a 66. Guess what? It is good enough to not only win the tournament, but it also secures you a berth at The Open Championship. Not just any Open, mind you, but at St Andrews.

Welcome to the life and times of Andy Sullivan, an English golfer whose life has changed for ever, right out of the blue.

Sullivan, 28, made seven birdies and a bogey in his round to finish ahead of five players, including compatriots Anthony Wall (68) and David Howell (69).

Howell missed a 30-foot eagle putt on the last to force a playoff and the return birdie putt that would have secured him second on his own, but he and Wall had the consolation of joining Sullivan at St Andrews. Overnight leader Wallie Coetsee shot a 71 to also tie for second on 15 under.

Sullivan began the day three shots behind Coetsee but five birdies in his opening nine holes moved him into the lead. A bogey on the 11th meant he dropped a shot behind Howell, who had played the front nine in four under par.

However, Howell dropped a shot of his own after hooking his tee shot into water on the 14th, while Wall's challenge faltered on the 15th when he also hit his ball into water.

"It's unbelievable," Sullivan said. "I never imagined it would happen again so quickly. Coming down the stretch me and my caddie were loving life again and enjoying it. It seems to be a theme, enjoying my golf and getting the right results at the moment."

Sullivan won a trip into space for a hole-in-one during last year's KLM Open. He said: "I think I am already there to be honest with you. I am on the crest of a wave at the moment and I don't want it to end. I just want it to keep going.

"I want to say a big thank you to my coach Jamie Gough, who has really turned it around, and my psychologist Lee Crombleholme who has been exceptional this week, working hard on being patient out there."

Gough and Crombleholme will, of course, be delighted by Sullivan's comments, but they will also know that the credit lies with the player, who has turned himself into one of the best golfers in Europe. What's more, he does it with a smile on his face. Long may it continue.

Image credit - European Tour Facebook